How to Complete a Customer-Managed Installation in an Air-gapped Environment

Overview

This guide outlines the steps for completing an customer-managed installation in an air-gapped environment using an embedded cluster.

Installation Process

1. Ensure you've addressed all the prerequisites outlined in the Customer-Managed Installation Prerequisites
2. Go to the link provided to you by Kinetic Data.
3. Continue to the Embedded Cluster Installation section.

Embedded Cluster Installation

1. Select Embedded cluster from the left-hand menu.
2. Under License, click Download license.
3. Under Embedded Kubernetes Installer, click Download bundle.
4. Under kinetic-platform-application Airgap Bundle, click Download airgap bundle.
5. Copy the files you downloaded on each platform server where you are installing the Platform.
   
6. Using your desired terminal emulator, access the CLI for the node you want to install the Platform on.
7. Unpack the installer tarball on the node.
8. Run the install.sh script using the airgap parameter.
   1. If you are using a multi-node high-availability cluster, add the ha parameter as well.
9. The installer will stop automatically if any errors are encountered. If this occurs, contact Kinetic Support.
   1. The installer will pause and display the following message if any warnings are encountered:
      Host preflights have warnings It is highly recommended to sort out the warning conditions before proceeding. Be aware that continuing with preflight warnings can result in failures. Would you like to continue?
      Review and address any warning messages, then continue the installation.
10. Make a note of the URL to the admin console along with the password. You’ll use this information to log in later.

    Recommended: While not required, we recommend resetting the password to the admin console using the following command: kubectl kots reset-password default. Enter a new password when prompted, then use the new password to log in to the admin console.

11. Complete the following steps on each additional node making up the cluster:
    1. Unpack the installer tarball.
    2. Perform a join command on each additional node.
    3. Continue to the Installing the Platform Using the Admin Console section.

Installing the Platform via the Configuration Admin Console

1. Access the admin console using the URL you made a note of earlier. Log in using the provided password (or the updated password if you changed it).
2. You will be brought to the "Bypass browser TLS warning" page, which indicates that your browser may warn you that the certificate used for the page is self-signed. Follow your browser's instructions to bypass the warning message and continue to the admin console.
3. Upload a custom certificate using the on-screen instructions if desired. Otherwise, continue to Step 4.
4. On the License tab, upload the license file you downloaded earlier.
5. On the Config tab, upload the airgap bundle file you downloaded earlier.

   Note: The upload time for the bundle file may vary depending on your network speed.

6. Enter the configuration information for the Platform and related applications. Required settings are marked with a yellow "Required".
7. Click Continue. This triggers Kubernetes to run preflight checks for the application. If you encounter any preflight errors, contact Kinetic Support.
8. Navigate to your load balancer URL (identified in the installation prerequisites) to access the application.
9. Log in to the application using the system username and password you specified in the admin console.